The emergence of pathogenic bacteria resistant to most, if not all, currently available antimicrobial agents has become a critical problem in modern medicine. This is particularly because of the concomitant increase in immunosuppressed patients. The concern that humankind is reentering the preantibiotics era has become very real and the development of alternative antiinfection modalities has become one of the highest priorities of modern medicine and biotechnology.
Prior to the discovery and widespread use of antibiotics, it was suggested that bacterial infections could be prevented or treated by the administration of bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses that invade bacterial cells and, in the case of lytic bacteriophages, disrupt bacterial metabolism and cause the bacteria to lyse (burst).
Bacteriophages have been successfully used to treat dysentery and staphylococcal skin disease. In the 1940's, Bacteriophage preparations were prepared and distributed commercially for the treatment of various infections that included abscesses, suppurating wounds, vaginitis, acute and chronic infections of the upper respiratory tract and mastoid infections. However, the efficacy of bacteriophage preparations was controversial and commercial production in most of the Western world ceased with the advent of antibiotics.
Bacteriophages have several characteristics that make them attractive therapeutic agents. Bacteriophages are highly specific, very effective in lysing targeted pathogenic bacteria and are safe, as documented by their sale and use in the United States in the 1940's. Bacteriophages are also adaptable to control newly arising bacterial threats. Their safety and adaptability make bacteriophages a valuable tool in combating the increasing threat of widespread infection by pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, the causal agent of anthrax, and multiple drug resistant bacteria that are unable to be treated with antibiotics.
Accordingly, what is needed are bacteriophages and compositions that can be used to prevent and treat infections caused by Bacillus bacteria, such as Bacillus anthracis. 